The Green Pet

Most of us love to have pets. But in this fast moving world, we find no time to keep one and maintain properly. Also today's small families can't handle responsibilities like bathing the pets, feeding them, taking them for walking, mating etc. Even fish demand changing water and proper feeding and maintenance. And for most people, the toughest part is going on vacation. It is impossible to take the pets along and it is equally impossible to convince a neighbor or relative to take care of the pet during vacations. So what can we do?

Here is a perfect solution for all of us. We keep wide varieties of green pets according to our space and economic constraints. Yes. I am talking about plants/trees. These are the pets you can keep without sparing much time and money. You can leave for vacations up to a week. And usually it is easier for you to convince your neighbor or relative to water the plant/tree once in a while rather than taking your doberman a walk.

Gooseberries grow well in Tamil Nadu climate!

I know most of the people living in concrete jungles (metros) can't afford space for trees. But still, they can easily find place for small pots growing table rose or sun rose. These small pots. If you are lucky to have a backyard (even with concrete flooring), you can grow small plants like tomato, bitter melon, rose, curry leaves etc. If you have even bigger space, with soil, then you can go for larger plants like hibiscus, jasmine etc and small trees like gooseberries, papaya etc. Seriously I am no expert in gardening. But with a small strip of land (4 x 30 feet), I managed to grow many of vegetables and trees (not at the same time though!)

If you are lucky, you will be visited by surprise guests!

These plants provide you a calm and polite company. They won't demand you to for biscuits or walking yet, they will be there quietly standing for you at the energetic early morning or after a tiring day's work. Their aroma, their colors, their shades and the gentle filtered air... Those are priceless compared to smelly dog poops or allergic cat hairs (no offense dog and cat lovers!). By growing these plants or trees, you will be surprised by pleasant visits of honey bees, sparrows, squirrels, butterflies and of course some unwanted insects and reptiles. But hey! That is not that big thing to address. In my entire 15+ years experience, I have encountered few centipedes and lizards apart from harmless insects like ants, grasshoppers and spiders (non-poisonous).

Are you feeling guilty about eating your pet's fetus? ;-)

My tips for a small backyard garden:

Spend few minutes daily to water the plants/trees.

Every weekend spend an hour to address the soil and cleaning.

Don't use pesticides and fertilizers. As you are growing them as pets, don't worry much about their yield.

Change the type of plants often. Experiment with different varieties of flowers, veggies and fruits.

Don't attach too much emotions. Plant's don't understand much and you should not be crying if that papaya tree is infected with some pest!

Conclusion:

By growing plants, you are doing more good than harm to the nature. Most of the pets are really not that good in terms of nature. They are also not an economic choice too. But plants on the other hand are both eco-friendly and economic. So enjoy the fruits of nature and cherish its beauty!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)